


The Seven Month Courtship

by JediC8H10N4O2



Series: After: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Healing, Minor Alicia Spinnet/Oliver Wood, Past Angelina/Fred, Past Angelina/Lee, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9690035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediC8H10N4O2/pseuds/JediC8H10N4O2
Summary: Angelina had a plan for her life. Sort of. Kind of. She definitely had an outline. Maybe several bullet points, but the point still stands. This was not part of the plan. At all. Now she has several things she needs to do, like find some way to travel back in time and prevent this from happening, waking up from her dream, getting a new wand since hers is clearly not working right, and failing all that, tell the father.Now, how hard could it be to break into the Department of Mysteries?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Brief consideration of terminating a pregnancy
> 
> My take on how Angelina and George reconnected with the specter of Fred in the background.

Angelina tried the spell again. And again. And a fourth time, on the off chance that she had made a mistake the first three times. Same result.

She was pregnant.

She had always meant to have children, at some point down line. Down, down the line. She had kind of thought that, well, she'd be married when she started having them. Right now, she didn't even have a steady boyfriend.

Which lead to the second problem. Well, not problem. More like, inconvenience. No, it wasn't an inconvenience. It was just awkward.

She knew exactly who the father was. She had broken it off with Lee, again, for what had been agreed between the two of them for the last time, two and a half months ago. There had only been one other person she'd been with in that time. And it wasn't exactly her favorite memory.

It had been the five year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. The old crowd had gotten together at the Leaky Cauldron which Hannah had closed early. She had been drinking and reminiscing with everyone else, and the next thing she knew she had woken up next to George.

Both had been embarrassed, and agreed that it was probably a mistake. After all, she had been Fred's girlfriend and George was Fred's brother, and George hadn't really gotten over his brother's death and Fred was her first love. He was slowly moving on, but everyone could tell he wasn't really ready for anything beyond being an uncle.

He was a good uncle though. She had stopped by his store at one point, to say hi to Lee since they were currently on at the time, and saw him interact with a young Victoire who had been excited about being an older sister. It was one of the few times after the war that she had seen George smile like he had during Hogwarts.

Angelina took a deep breath, pulled out her Gryffindor courage, and knocked on Alicia's door.

"We don't have practice until tomorrow, I'm not getting up," came the response from her flatmate.

"It's important," Angelina said, folding her arms nervously.

"It better be," came the muffled response, with Alicia opening the door. Alicia wasn't a morning person, not after all of Oliver's early morning practices. Angelina was surprised that the two had managed to date for so long given Oliver's chipper nature in the morning and Alicia's tendency to attempt to glare things to death.

"I'm pregnant," Angelina said. Alicia stared at her, uncomprehendingly.

"That's it? You'll still be pregnant in five hours. Congrats, tell Lee I hope the kid inherits nothing from him. Night," Alicia went to close the door, but Angelina stuck her foot in the door.

"The kid won't inherit anything from Lee," Angelina said, hoping that Alicia would understand the problem.

"Good for the kid," Alicia said, kicking at Angelina's foot so that she could close the door. "I wouldn't wish his genes on anyone."

After five more minutes of Alicia trying to get Angelina to let her close the door and go back to sleep, she looked up.

"Wait, how do yo know the kid won't inherit anything from Lee? Didn't Hermione and Malfoy's girlfriend have some kind of conversation about jenny-ethics or something at Harry's wedding and the possibility of their kids having certain traits?" Alicia asked, looking confused.

"Because Lee isn't the father," Angelina bit out. Alicia stared at her as she processed the information.

"You know what? It's too early to deal with this," Alicia said, and she turned around and fell back on her bed.

"Oh no. I need help, and going to Katie would be awkward, and I'm not going to anyone on the team," Angelina said as she entered the room and sat down on the bed. "You have to help me."

"You could, you know, talk to the father," Alicia said, voice muffled by a pillow.

"ALICIA!"

"Fine, fine. But I expect to be well compensated for this," Alicia grumbled, getting up and facing Angelina.

"What do I do?" Angelina asked.

"I don't know," Alicia said.

"It was an accident."

"I kind of figured that."

"Can you be more helpful?" Angelina asked, annoyed at her friend. Alicia sighed.

"Not right now. You are going to have to tell the father eventually, unless you decide that you aren't going to..."

"I don't know. I want to have kids at some point, but not now. But I'm not sure how I'd feel if I didn't keep it," Angelina said, her emotions finally hitting her.

"Ok. Well, is there any reason we can't put this conversation off until you've had a bit longer to think?" Alicia asked, yawning.

"I'm in the middle of a crisis, and you want to go back to sleep? I need better friends," Angelina moaned. Alicia scowled.

"Hey, I live with you. What more do you want from me this early in the morning?" Alicia demanded.

"A plan of attack? An idea of what to do? A Time-Turner?" Angelina listed off.

"All that sounds like a Hermione thing. Go talk to her," Alicia said.

"And she'll tell Ron, and it'll get around to George. Or she'll tell Harry who will tell Ron who will tell George. Or she'll tell Ginny who will tell Harry who will tell Ron who will tell George," Angelina said, beginning to become hysterical.

"No she won't. Although it would be strange for you to meet with Hermione out of the blue," Alicia allowed. She sighed and looked at her friend. "Look, besides the fact I want to go back to sleep, I don't think I'm who you should be talking to. And I don't think you should be talking to him about anything until you have some idea of what you want to do. Think it through, don't be rash. Now, can I go back to sleep? I've been reasonable."

Angelina took a deep breath and exhaled. "I guess. But I'll probably need help later."

"Great. Now, get out of my room so I can go back to sleep. See you in several hours," Alicia said, ushering Angelina out of the room and shutting the door and locking it. Angelina sighed, went to the kitchen and poured some coffee. She needed to be awake.

Five hours later, after Angelina had managed to calm down on her own and start to think about her options, Alicia's door burst open. A frantic Alicia ran out, eyes wide, looking around the flat. She found Angelina sitting at the kitchen table.

"You're pregnant?" Alicia yelled out. "Lee isn't the father? What are you going to do?"

Angelina put her head on the table and sighed. Her roommate and best friend: able to give good advice, but only when she was half asleep and not really aware of what was going on.

* * *

Three weeks later, and after several melt downs between Angelina and Alicia, which Angelina didn't appreciate ("Wait, does this mean I might have to find a new flatmate? We just renewed our lease!" "Alicia, not helping!"), Angelina finally knew what she was going to do.

She was going to have a baby. She was going to have a baby. Dear Merlin, she wasn't ready.

A very confused Oliver Wood accidentally walked in on the plans for a raid on the Department of Mysteries to find some sort of time reversal spell or device to fix the problem. He managed to convince Angelina and Alicia that no, it was a bad idea to invade the Ministry, even if Harry had done it in his fifth year and again in what would have been his seventh. If they were caught, they wouldn't be able to play Quidditch while serving their sentences, and might be banned from Quidditch for life.

While it did have the intended effect of ending the half formed plan, it set Angelina off as she remembered that she would have to take a break from Quidditch and she started to cry. Alicia, still freaked out by the fact her roommate was pregnant, started to yell at Oliver for making Angelina cry, which made Angelina more upset.

Oliver decided that it was probably in his best interests to stop making unannounced visits to his girlfriend's flat. At least until what ever was going on in there had been dealt with. A floo call to check would be much easier than dealing with two crazy women unafraid to hit him.

* * *

A month after she discovered her pregnancy, Angelina actually knew what she was going to do. It did not involve time travel or invading the Ministry. It didn't even involve moving out of the flat. Well, not yet at least. She was going to have a baby. According to the healer, she was going to have a healthy baby.

She was going to switch to being a reserve player for the Tornados as soon as she started to show, then return to being on the main team for every other game, and then after seven months return to her original position. Childcare was already provided, since several players had some young children. She had worked it out with the captain, and everyone was satisfied.

Now, she stood in front of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Now, she had to tell George. Alternatively, she could do what she had done for the past two days and stand there for ten minutes, then walk away. That was sounding like a better idea the longer she stood there. Angelina turned to leave when Lee came out of the store, looking a little aggravated.

"It's been three days. You going to come in, or are we going to have this conversation outside?" Lee demanded. Angelina stared at him blankly, not understanding why he was so upset when she was the one who was pregnant with a child belonging to the nearly identical brother of her first love.

"Inside," Angelina said, knowing that this was definitely not a conversation she wanted other people to overhear. And people were beginning to loiter now that Lee had come out and begun to make a scene.

Lee sighed and went back inside, leaving the door open for Angelina to follow. He beckoned her to the back room, and cast a privacy charm once she reached it. He then folded his arms and stared at her.

"We called it quits. We agreed we were done for good this time. I'm happy with Katie," Lee started, and Angelina realized what her behavior the last few days looked like to people who were not aware of her condition.

"I'm not actually here to see you. I'm glad you and Katie are happy. Really," she said, when Lee looked a little unsure. "I'm here to see George."

"About what?" Lee asked, curious and slightly hurt that Angelina hadn't been trying to get him back. Not that he would do that to Katie, or that Angelina would do that to Katie, but still.

"It's, well, kind of...personal," Angelina hedged. This was not going to plan. If she had a plan. If she had a plan, this was not how it was going to go.

She and Lee just stood there in an awkward silence for a few minutes, before Lee shrugged and went to get George. Angelina spent that time debating whether she really wanted to have this conversation, or if she should escape via the floo, and pretend she hadn't left her flat in five days, so she could not have possibly been standing outside the building Lee, you must be going insane.

Before she could figure out where the floo powder was kept, George walked in the backroom, and put up the privacy charm. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"'You're here to see me'. You couldn't come up with a better lie?" George asked, a small smile on his face.

"Huh? Is this about what Lee said? Because I really am happy for him and Katie. And I really am here to see you. But if you're too busy to talk, or in the middle of something, or any reason whatsoever, I'm willing to come back later," Angelina began to say, her words rushing out as she tried to prevent the conversation she was almost certainly not prepared for.

"Angelina, what's the matter?"

George looked concerned, and worried, and Angelina really, really needed someone who would be able to understand what she was going through and wasn't he in the same boat? Even if he didn't know it yet?

"You might want to sit down," George conjured two chairs so that both of them could sit down, and gestured for her to continue.

Angelina gathered up the Gryffindor courage that had alluded her for the past three days, closed her eyes and told him.

"I'm pregnant. About two months."

George stared at her, uncomprehending. "Congratulations. Shouldn't you tell Lee? Or the father?"

"I just did."

"But Lee said..." George started, before he began to do the math. His face turned pale, and he pointed to himself. Angelina nodded. "Me? I'm going to be a..."

"Yes."

"Not a prank?"

"No. Not unless my wand has managed to get a healer to go along with its attempt to prank me," Angelina said. "And Alicia's wand."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"And you're sure I'm the father?" George was begging for Angelina to tell him that it was some sort of prank.

"I know who I've slept with, and in the time frame I have, you are the only person. So yes. You are the father."

George exhaled. "My mother will be pleased."

* * *

Angelina was not feeling at all charitable towards George. Not only had he gotten her in this state, where she could barely eat any food without getting sick, he had told his mother.

Molly Weasley was a lovely woman. Angelina liked her. Normally. Not when the woman in question was flooing her every other day, asking about how she was, whether she needed anything, and was she absolutely sure she didn't want to move into the Burrow so that she wouldn't be alone and would have someone to help with raising the child.

Molly meant well, but Angelina had been living on her own for years, and going back to anyone's mother's house felt like a step backwards.

No. She was going to get through this. George was going to help. Starting now.

George was going to talk to his mother and make her stop. Angelina walked through the door to the store to inform George of this, and was immediately pulled into the room in the back and made to sit down.

"You should be resting. Are you ok?" George asked, fretting over her. If Angelina hadn't been in an almost perpetual bad mood (she was bloated, constantly sick, and moody) she would have thought it sweet. As it was, there were two Weasleys too many now asking her pointless questions.

"No, I'm not. Your mother keeps calling. Make her stop," Angelina demanded. George sighed, having gotten used to her moods after two months.

"She did it to Fleur, and Audrey. Bill and Percy couldn't make her stop, I don't think I'll be able to. The only reason Ginny isn't dealing with it too is she moved into the Burrow recently," George said. Angelina's death glare had him backpedalling. "But I will certainly ask her to stop. In fact, how about I do that right now? You sit tight."

"Sitting is about the only thing I can do right now," Angelina said sourly. Since her morning sickness was bad, she had been placed on the injury list, and was grounded. It made sense, since she couldn't even think of flying without feeling sick, but Angelina was bored. She had never been one to sit and watch.

Fifteen minutes later, George came back. He smiled sheepishly. "She agreed to call once a week. Luckily with Ginny pregnant and Audrey having just had Lucy, she has a few other people to worry about instead."

Angelina scowled, but when Molly Weasley decided something, she didn't really back down. Angelina sighed and closed her eyes. George looked her over, a frown on his face.

"Are you ok?" he asked again, serious.

"No. I'm bored. I can't fly, I can't watch them fly. I'm stuck in my flat, and I need to be doing something. Something productive," Angelina snapped. George gave a faint smile.

"Ginny's the same way. She's driving Harry spare. I think he got banished to Malfoy's recently," George said.

"Why Malfoy?" Angelina asked, still surprised by that friendship even two years later. By all accounts, Harry and Malfoy made a good Auror pair, and no one had anything bad to say about Malfoy's wife, but after having gone to school and seeing their rivalry play out it was hard to wrap her head around their friendship.

"Going to Ron and Hermione's wouldn't have been punishment, it would have given him ideas," George answered, mimicking his sister.

"I thought you said she was staying at the Burrow," Angelina said. "Why wouldn't Harry just stay at their house?"

"Because that wouldn't be punishment either. He would invite Ron and Hermione over and wouldn't learn his lesson," George answered. Angelina laughed.

George looked at her thoughtfully. "Do you want to work here while you're grounded? You could just run the register. It would give Lee the opportunity to take Katie on a nice vacation. And it would be something to do."

Angelina didn't have to think about it very long. "Yes. I need to do something. Can I start today?"

"Sure," George answered. Angelina smiled, before her smile vanished.

"I'll start right after I visit the loo."

* * *

After a month of working at the store, Alicia was watching Angelina after she told a funny story about her day. Angelina finished her story, and raised an eyebrow at Alicia.

"What?" Angelina asked.

"Spending a lot of time with George lately," Alicia said. Angelina frowned.

"Well, not only am I working with him, I'm kind of carrying his child," Angelina said, not understanding what Alicia was saying.

"I know, you've just, been mentioning him a lot. I was wondering if something was going on between you two. You know, more than what is already going on," Alicia asked, shrugging.

"No, nothing besides the obvious," Angelina said. Alicia dropped the subject, but that Angelina couldn't forget what she said.

A week later, she was still mulling over what Alicia had said. Sure, she had been spending a lot of time with George, but half the child she was carrying was his. They would be spending a lot of time together for the rest of their lives now, sharing a kid. And yeah, she enjoyed his company, but she had known that way back in Hogwarts.

But now that Alicia had brought up the possibility she might feel something more for him, Angelina was worried. She hoped she wasn't using him as a substitute for Fred. There were times when both of them would fall into an uncomfortable silence because they both knew Fred would have said something.

She knew she had moved on from Fred. She wouldn't have started to date Lee otherwise. And Fred and she had broken up when the war started, saying that they would revisit everything after the war had ended. It clearly hadn't happened, and she had started dating Lee about a year and a half later. But now that she was carrying a child who would possibly look very similar if not identical to any children she might have had with Fred, she wondered if she was trying to pretend it was Fred.

"What's the matter?" George asked, since she had been quiet so far that morning. Ron was off scouting a new location in Paris and Lee was running the Hogsmeade store, so it was just the two of them in the store. Since Hogwarts had started about a month and a half ago, it was a slow business day.

"It's nothing," Angelina said. George raised an eyebrow, and Angelina sighed. "It's just something Alicia said last week. Well, she didn't say anything, but she implied it."

George waited for her to continue, but Angelina stopped there. She didn't want to bring up her concerns or Fred. Bringing up Fred around George was never easy. When she didn't say anything, George prompted her.

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm not, I'm… There is no easy way to ask this," Angelina said, frowning. "You don't feel like I'm substituting you for Fred, do you?"

George stilled, and his face became unreadable. Angelina felt bad immediately for asking, but couldn't take the words back.

The two of them sat there in an awkward silence for what felt like forever. Angelina didn't know what to say, so she just let the silence continue.

"I was worried when I first found out that I might just see whatever potential nephew or niece you and Fred could have had. I know it's possible that both of you would have decided after that you didn't want to start up again, but… everyone seemed to end up with their school day significant others," George said, breaking the silence. He didn't look at her, and switched the sign on the store to 'on lunch break' so that they would have some privacy.

"You're really good with your nieces. Victoire loves you, Lucy always smiles when you hold her and Dominique and Molly seem to adore you as well," Angelina said.

"You mean Mimi," George corrected, giving a shadow of a smile. Victoire had decided that having a cousin Molly and a grandmother Molly was too confusing, and had nicknamed Molly Mimi. Audrey had thought the name adorable, so it had stuck. Victoire would correct everyone if she heard them call her cousin Molly. Young Molly had also started to only respond to Mimi.

"Sorry, how could I possibly forget," Angelina said, smiling. It was hard not to when bringing up the next generation of Weasleys. The four girls were adorable, and those who could talk had taken to calling her Aunt Angelina, or Aunt Alina, as Dominique would say.

"I just thought that if anyone from my family had a child with you, it would have been Fred. And it was hard. But, Dad talked to me. He said that I shouldn't look at this as something Fred wouldn't have. After all, if Fred were alive, I'd probably try and pretend to be the kid's actual father," George continued. Angelina smiled.

"Do you remember that time Fred got a detention, and we had a date to practice Quidditch, and you pretended to be him for the date since I had told him to not get a detention or I would hurt him?" Angelina asked. George laughed, a little thickly, but an actual laugh.

"I lasted all of five minutes before you had thrown the quaffle at my head and asked where my idiot brother was," George reminisced. "You had the two of us doing your chores and begging for your forgiveness for weeks for insinuating you were so shallow you didn't know who you were dating."

"Merlin, any of your children would have been confused growing up. You two wouldn't have been able to stop trying to switch places," Angelina and George shared a laugh over that.

"So, really, this kid will just have a single father instead of two. But Fred would have been happy for you. And..."

"Yes, we will absolutely name the child Fred if it's a boy," Angelina said, laughing even while tears formed in her eyes. "There isn't really any other name option."

"Anyways, you've never mistaken us before. You haven't been trying to use me as a replacement. If you had, it would have been back when it...when it happened. Not now," George said. He fidgeted a bit, and Angelina arched a brow.

"What?"

"I was...well… I've enjoyed the time we've spent together. And since we'll both be the parents of this kid, I was wondering if maybe we could try dating… just to see if we would work. Before possibly forcing our kid to go through something unpleasant later," George rushed out, looking everywhere but at her.

Angelina paused. She had enjoyed spending time with George, and wouldn't be opposed to trying to date.

"You know, we're doing this in the wrong order," Angelina pointed out, and George gave a ghost of a smile. "Yes, why not."

* * *

For their one month anniversary, which Angelina felt odd celebrating but George had insisted, Angelina and George were enjoying a dinner at his flat above the store.

Angelina had enjoyed the last month, although nothing had really changed. Sure, they eaten together a few more times, and had gone to a few Quidditch matches together, but it had felt normal. They hadn't done a lot of dating activities, mostly because Angelina didn't always have a lot of energy. Angelina liked that there wasn't any pressure on them.

After excusing herself to the loo, she came back to discover George fiddling with something, before hearing her approach and then pocketing it. Angelina tried not to give a sign she had noticed anything, but inwardly she was worried.

She hoped that wasn't what she thought it was.

Her hopes were dashed a few minutes later when George pulled out a ring.

"Angelina, will you..."

"Not right now George. It's too soon. We've been dating for a month. I hope your mum didn't put you up to this, saying you had to marry me. I don't want to be an obligation," Angelina said, trying to let him down lightly.

"She didn't. You wouldn't be an obligation, I know you can take care of yourself. It's one of the things I've always liked about you. I'm asking because after the past several months, I've realized that I want to marry you. Not because you're pregnant, but because I like having you around. Because when you're around, I feel more alive than I have in years. You're beautiful, amazing, funny, and everything I could ever want in a person. You aren't Fred, I'm not Fred, but somehow I feel like I'm not as alone when I'm with you," George said earnestly, placing the ring down and trying to convince Angelina. "If you don't want to right now, I want it to be because you aren't ready. Not because you don't think I am."

Angelina took all of that in, and closed her eyes. A part of her felt like George was just trying to do what the rest of his family had done, and marry someone. But this was George. This was George when he needed you to believe him, when he wasn't trying to pull anything over anyone. This was the George who told her that Harry had seen Voldemort after the Tournament fiasco. This was the George who told her about the DA. This was the George who admitted he was terrified for his younger brother at Bill's wedding.

So, maybe he was ready. But she was not. Not yet.

"Alright. Then not now, because I'm not ready," Angelina said. George nodded, and put the ring away.

Two weeks later, and Angelina would have thought things might be awkward. After all, she had said no. Well, she had said not right now, but she had still not accepted. But George acted the same way he always had. And Angelina was beginning to think about it.

She had thought he was moving too fast. After all, they had only been dating a month. But she had known him for years. And he was right, they had been getting closer since she told him about the pregnancy.

She loved George, had loved him as a friend. She didn't get into ridiculous arguments with George like she had with Lee. Her relationship with Lee had been tumultuous and despite their feelings, neither one of them had been right for each other. But with George, it was different. She could see a future with him, and with Lee, she hadn't been able to.

She wouldn't mind being married to George. But that wasn't a good enough reason to say yes. She needed to be sure.

She was pretty sure that she needed more time.

* * *

Or maybe she needed to be faced with the prospect of life without George. Not that she really wanted to repeat that incident.

Three days after she had decided she wouldn't mind marrying George but needed more time to decide, the idiot went and blew himself and Lee up with an experimental potion.

Angelina had been manning the front of the store while Ron was running the Hogsmeade front to allow Lee and George the ability to work on a new creation. Ron wasn't the best at inventing, and Angelina was not supposed to do anything that might hurt the kid.

She had been ringing someone up when she heard a loud explosion. She and the customer froze, and Angelina hurried to the back room as fast as she could. Which was extremely slow since she was currently extremely large. She flooed Ron, since she wasn't allowed to be in the basement in her condition. When Ron had come back up ashen and told her to floo Saint Mungo's, she knew something was horribly wrong.

The two men had been drained of their magic and on the verge of death. After five agonizing hours they had been stabilized, and fell into comas. No one knew when or if they would wake up, or what they would be like if they did wake up.

After three days, Lee woke up. He was responsive and alert. He was speaking backwards, but the healers were sure they would be able to fix that. According to Lee, he had been farther away from the blast. Lee was double checking the chalkboard since one of the equations had been smudged when George had sworn. Lee didn't know what happened because when he went to turn around, the potion had exploded.

Two days after Lee woke up, and Alicia, Katie, and Hermione were trying to convince Angelina that she needed to leave George's hospital room. Angelina and Molly had been constants in the room ever since George had stabilized. Various other family members had come through to check on him, but those two refused to leave.

Victoire told her Uncle George he was not allowed to go see Uncle Fred because Uncle George had promised her a special gift at Christmas. Dominique kept trying to wake him up, because he had slept too long. Mimi informed Uncle George that he was not allowed to miss Lucy's first Christmas. Teddy Lupin had even stopped by with Harry and Ginny to tell George he needed to wake up.

If it weren't so dire, Angelina would have thought it adorable to watch George's nieces yell at him to wake up. Instead Angelina was siting at his bedside, staying with Molly and hoping he would wake up.

Which he finally did. When Angelina was in the bathroom, because the bathroom had become her best friend during her pregnancy. Angelina came back to an ecstatic Molly, relieved Arthur, confused George, and a poor healer trying to check on George.

Seeing George awake and responding had Angelina sagging. Luckily there was a chair nearby she could sit in, and watch as she waited for her strength to return. If it did. The pregnancy was hard. But now that George was moving, Angelina felt relief wash over her.

She wasn't going to lose another friend. Not yet at least.

She just sat in the chair, and watched as healers came and went, as Molly fussed. She just enjoyed seeing George moving and alive and not dead. She did managed a smile at George, before the healers ushered everyone out, and Oliver Wood awkwardly arrived to make sure she made it to her flat since Alicia was busy.

Didn't stop her from returning the next day as soon as visitors were allowed. Or the next day. Angelina was there everyday George was in the hospital. So was Molly, and Angelina was content to just let Molly talk at George. She was just happy to watch George, reassure herself he was fine.

On his last day in Saint Mungos, Angelina and George were left alone in the room while Molly went to make sure all the paperwork was filled out so that George could go back to the Burrow. George hadn't been able to convince his mother that he was up to the task of looking after himself for a few more days, and nobody else wanted to get between Molly and her children. Not after Bellatrix.

"You aren't allowed to leave your kid fatherless," Angelina began, folding her arms. George rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

"Don't intend to," he said.

"And yes," Angelina finished.

George stared at her for a minute, not understanding her last statement. After a few minutes, his eyes lite up as he figured out what she meant.

Molly walked back into the room, complaining about healers losing things, to see George beaming.

"Mum! Angelina said yes!" George said, happy and over the moon and needing to share it with someone.

A few different looks passed over Molly's face. Surprise, confusion, concern, until she settled on elation.

"Congratulations! Oh, this is lovely. Goodness, we'll have to start planning the wedding. I suppose you'll wait until after your child is born?" Molly said, deciding to not comment on the fact that they hadn't been dating for very long. After all, she had decided she was going to marry Arthur after the first date. The only reason she waited was because she was a fifth year. She needed to at least finish school first.

"I'd rather not have a giant ceremony," Angelina began.

"I'd rather do it soon," George said at the same time.

George and Angelina looked at each other, and smiled.

"You doing anything next week?" Angelina asked, smiling. Since she had decided, there really was no point in putting it off.

"Nothing's in my schedule," George said, pretending to think.

"A week? That's hardly enough time to get the family together!" Molly said, her mind immediately turning to the excuse to get her family together in one place again. "Let's see, Percy could officiate, since he went and got his license. Victoire would love to be a flower girl again. Charlie could come early for Christmas..."

Molly was lost in her thoughts, busy replanning the wedding she had started planning the minute she had learned about their child. Molly was a romantic person at heart. George and Angelina looked at each other.

"I say we just let her plan it," George said. "She's going to try and help anyway."

"Just family and friends though."

* * *

To the surprise of many in the extended Weasley clan, George and Angelina were married on the 17th of December.

George's nieces were surprised, because didn't having children together mean you were married? Bill had told his two that he would explain when they were older. Percy turned red when Mimi asked, and Audrey laughingly explained that no, having a child together didn't imply marriage it was just something that often occurred after marriage.

His siblings were surprised because Angelina and George had only been dating for about two months, and Angelina was very pregnant and it seemed like any other time would have made more sense. In fact, the entire thing lasted only a half hour, because any longer than that and Angelina wouldn't be able to stand. She and George had promised Molly that she could plan a real reception after the child was born.

* * *

It was a beautiful, if short, ceremony. Teddy was the ring bearer, because as Harry had joked, it wasn't really a Weasley wedding if he wasn't. Victoire was the flower girl and enjoyed tossing the flowers around the backyard. Dominique was the flower monster, because being human was overrated, and it was much more fun to run around stomping on the flowers her sister dropped. And Mimi was the flower organizer, because she couldn't understand why you would toss the flowers on the ground when you could make pretty designs with them. And little Lucy was a flower, because Audrey thought it would amuse everyone.

It did.

And George left an empty spot for his best man, because everyone knew that no one else would ever fill that spot and it made the ceremony more beautiful.

There were tears of joy and sadness, and anger because a certain flower monster had wanted to continue to stomp the flowers and didn't want to sit in a seat, even if it was for only a half hour.

To George and Angelina, it was perfect. It was the best day of their lives.

To Mimi, the flowers could have been better used.

A week and a half later, it was replaced by two other days.

On December 31st, Fred George Weasley was born.

On January 1st, after much swearing and threatened hexes and thrown objects, Roxanne Alicia Weasley was born.

They looked a lot like their mother. Their father couldn't be happier.

Their cousins were getting tired of babies.


End file.
